Small-scale Isoetes distribution pattern in a Mediterranean vernal pool system

This work identifies plant-communities, specifically their lsoetes species composition, and analyses their spatial patterns in a Mediterranean vernal pool system located in central Spain. The vegetation zonation includes three bands of plant-community types and three ecotones from these, in a gradient leading from edge to bottom, with increasing length of flooding period. The intermediate plant-community type included the most interesting phytogeographical element in Ranunculus longipes and lsoetes setacea. This work highlights the important role that ephemeral lsoetes species can play in Mediterranean VP systems in characterising plant-community types. The three studied lsoetes species (I. velata, I. setacea and I. histrix) show a distribution in overlapped bands related with the period of flooding.